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The Unarmed Truth: My Fight to Blow the Whistle and Expose Fast and Furious
A hard-hitting inside account of the Fast and Furious scandal—the government-sponsored program intended to “win the drug war” by providing and tracking gun sales across the border to Mexico—from whistle-blower and ATF agent John Dodson.
After the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, John Dodson pulled bodies out of the wreckage at the Pentagon. In 2007, following the shooting massacre at Virginia Tech, John Dodson walked through the classrooms, heartbroken, to cover up the bodies of the victims.
Then came Arizona. The American border.
Ten days before Christmas, 2010, ATF agent John Dodson awoke to the news he had dreaded every day as a member of the elite team called the Group VII Strike a U.S. border patrol agent named Brian Terry had been shot dead by bandits armed with guns that had been supplied to them by ATF. Was this an inevitable consequence of the Obama administration’s Project Gunrunner, set in place one year earlier ostensibly to track Mexican drug cartels?
Brian Terry’s murder would not only change John Dodson’s life forever; it would reveal a scandal so unthinkably unpatriotic that it forced President Barack Obama to claim executive privilege and caused Attorney General Eric Holder to be held in contempt of Congress.
Federal Agent John Dodson, an ex-military man, took an oath to defend the world’s greatest country, and proudly considered himself a walking patriotic example of the American Dream. Brian Terry, ex-military like Dodson, was only forty years old, a family man who served his country by working for the government.
Dodson was terrified when the next phone call came, one with the potential to destroy his career, his family, and his life. CBS investigative journalist Sharyl Attkisson asked Dodson to go public with what he knew about Fast and Furious. To Agent Dodson, this meant blowing the whistle. But to the family of Agent Terry, it was a chance to save lives and right a wrong. As he took a fight from the border towns of Arizona to a showdown in the halls of Congress, John Dodson clung to the hope that truth would prevail, that he would be redeemed, and that Brian Terry’s death would not be in vain.
Like whistle-blowers before him, John would not be welcome back on the job. But he found strength in his conscience, in the support of the American public, and in Senators Darryl Issa and Chuck Grassley. When his first-amendment rights to publicly tell his story were threatened, the ACLU took up his case. For her report revealing John Dodson as the key whistle-blower in Fast and Furious, Sharyl Attkisson received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Investigative Journalism.
Ultimately, John Dodson was cleared by the Inspector General’s office, publicly heralded as a hero, and returned to Arizona.
Perhaps a lesson gleaned from John Dodson’s powerful account is well stated by former Speaker of the House of Representatives Sam “If you always tell the truth, you don’t have to remember what you said.”
After the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, John Dodson pulled bodies out of the wreckage at the Pentagon. In 2007, following the shooting massacre at Virginia Tech, John Dodson walked through the classrooms, heartbroken, to cover up the bodies of the victims.
Then came Arizona. The American border.
Ten days before Christmas, 2010, ATF agent John Dodson awoke to the news he had dreaded every day as a member of the elite team called the Group VII Strike a U.S. border patrol agent named Brian Terry had been shot dead by bandits armed with guns that had been supplied to them by ATF. Was this an inevitable consequence of the Obama administration’s Project Gunrunner, set in place one year earlier ostensibly to track Mexican drug cartels?
Brian Terry’s murder would not only change John Dodson’s life forever; it would reveal a scandal so unthinkably unpatriotic that it forced President Barack Obama to claim executive privilege and caused Attorney General Eric Holder to be held in contempt of Congress.
Federal Agent John Dodson, an ex-military man, took an oath to defend the world’s greatest country, and proudly considered himself a walking patriotic example of the American Dream. Brian Terry, ex-military like Dodson, was only forty years old, a family man who served his country by working for the government.
Dodson was terrified when the next phone call came, one with the potential to destroy his career, his family, and his life. CBS investigative journalist Sharyl Attkisson asked Dodson to go public with what he knew about Fast and Furious. To Agent Dodson, this meant blowing the whistle. But to the family of Agent Terry, it was a chance to save lives and right a wrong. As he took a fight from the border towns of Arizona to a showdown in the halls of Congress, John Dodson clung to the hope that truth would prevail, that he would be redeemed, and that Brian Terry’s death would not be in vain.
Like whistle-blowers before him, John would not be welcome back on the job. But he found strength in his conscience, in the support of the American public, and in Senators Darryl Issa and Chuck Grassley. When his first-amendment rights to publicly tell his story were threatened, the ACLU took up his case. For her report revealing John Dodson as the key whistle-blower in Fast and Furious, Sharyl Attkisson received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Investigative Journalism.
Ultimately, John Dodson was cleared by the Inspector General’s office, publicly heralded as a hero, and returned to Arizona.
Perhaps a lesson gleaned from John Dodson’s powerful account is well stated by former Speaker of the House of Representatives Sam “If you always tell the truth, you don’t have to remember what you said.”
304 pages, Hardcover
First published December 3, 2013
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148 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
June 3, 2014
It's a shame that U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry had to lose his life before the myopia, incompetence, and complete negligence of the ATF and the Justice Department---as evident in the now-famous "Fast and Furious" case that recently made national news---was brought to light. It's a shame, a tragedy, and a travesty all rolled in to one, but what's even more tragic is that Brian Terry has now been quickly forgotten by an apathetic general public, spurred on by a worthless news media that cares more about racist owners of basketball teams or the latest police beats having to do with Justin Bieber.
John Dodson refuses to let Terry be forgotten. Dodson, a military veteran who has worked with the ATF and the FBI, is the whistle-blower behind the Fast and Furious scandal; a scandal which has, sadly, resulted in no arrests or anyone involved serving jail-time or facing any punishment of any kind. It has been an ongoing nightmare for Dodson, who has been defamed and slandered by political figures and news media alike, and his book, "The Unarmed Truth", which is his memoir based on his experience and involvement in the scandal, was almost not published at all. Some critics have said that the book is a "Pyrrhic" victory for Dodson, as it has been published so long after the fact, that it is now irrelevant. I suppose that's up to the reader to decide, but in my opinion, truth doesn't have an expiration date.
Dodson joined the ATF with high hopes of being part of a law enforcement agency that would actually do some good. His underlying motive---which had been his motive through his tenure in the Army, as a narcotics police officer, and a DEA agent---was a simple one: protect the public. When he was given an ATF position in Phoenix, Arizona in 2009, transferring from a successful stint in the Harrisonburg, Virginia area, Dodson was excited. He was close to the border, which was close to Mexico and the drug cartels, and he felt that he could really do some good getting illegal firearms out of the hands of dealers and cartel members.
It soon became apparent, though, that his superiors---whom he viewed as incompetent---weren't interested in the same thing. They didn't seem to care about getting guns off the streets. Dodson wasn't sure what they cared about, although he suspected that it was a combination of getting the most results by doing the least amount of work as well as a deep interest in getting promoted to bigger and better positions, preferably at the federal level, where the pay was better and their level of accountability would be next to zero.
Rather than arresting people for illegal gun purchases, Dodson and his fellow agents were told to simply observe how many purchases were made and where the guns were moved to. In most cases, the people they were observing were known straw purchasers. These are men and women---generally young, with no criminal records---who would buy large amounts of guns and would then transport them across the border to give to cartels, since cartels could not purchase guns in America. They knew exactly where the guns were going, but they were told to do nothing. This is known as "gun walking", a practice that the ATF completely denies they condoned or sanctioned.
Dodson knows that's bullshit, and he told his superiors repeatedly that what they were doing was wrong. He warned his superiors that the consequences of their sanctioned gun walking would eventually result in many innocent American and Mexican lives being killed by American guns in the hands of cartel members. Dodson received nothing but cold shoulders, shit jobs, and transfers to out-of-the-way posts meant to shut him up.
After the 2011 nighttime shootout between Border Patrol agents and Mexican bandits that resulted in Terry's death, two things happened: 1) Subsequent investigations of the crime scene resulted in the recovery of the murder weapons, all of which were guns that the ATF had allowed to get in the hands of cartel members. The very thing that Dodson had been afraid would happen, happened. 2) Dodson made a decision that would change his life forever: he was going to blow the whistle on the ATF Phoenix.
The majority of Dodson's memoir is given over to the mental battle he endured as to whether to be a whistle-blower or not, and when he finally makes the decision to do so, how to do it in a way that would be the safest for him and his family. It's no small decision to be a whistle-blower. It's a decision that affects one's career, relationships, and even one's safety and well-being. His decision, he realizes, was all the more difficult given the ridiculous politicization of the scandal. As Dodson writes, "Once politics are injected into it, the search for the truth gets thrown off track. Everyone puts up their shields and defends their side's assertion of what is the given truth. Whichever side is victorious, their "truth" now prevails, while the real truth is so often lost somewhere along the way. (p.260)"
Thankfully, there are people like Dodson who are willing to stand up and ultimately do the right thing, for the truth, for the protection of the general public, and for the forgotten fallen like Brian Terry.
John Dodson refuses to let Terry be forgotten. Dodson, a military veteran who has worked with the ATF and the FBI, is the whistle-blower behind the Fast and Furious scandal; a scandal which has, sadly, resulted in no arrests or anyone involved serving jail-time or facing any punishment of any kind. It has been an ongoing nightmare for Dodson, who has been defamed and slandered by political figures and news media alike, and his book, "The Unarmed Truth", which is his memoir based on his experience and involvement in the scandal, was almost not published at all. Some critics have said that the book is a "Pyrrhic" victory for Dodson, as it has been published so long after the fact, that it is now irrelevant. I suppose that's up to the reader to decide, but in my opinion, truth doesn't have an expiration date.
Dodson joined the ATF with high hopes of being part of a law enforcement agency that would actually do some good. His underlying motive---which had been his motive through his tenure in the Army, as a narcotics police officer, and a DEA agent---was a simple one: protect the public. When he was given an ATF position in Phoenix, Arizona in 2009, transferring from a successful stint in the Harrisonburg, Virginia area, Dodson was excited. He was close to the border, which was close to Mexico and the drug cartels, and he felt that he could really do some good getting illegal firearms out of the hands of dealers and cartel members.
It soon became apparent, though, that his superiors---whom he viewed as incompetent---weren't interested in the same thing. They didn't seem to care about getting guns off the streets. Dodson wasn't sure what they cared about, although he suspected that it was a combination of getting the most results by doing the least amount of work as well as a deep interest in getting promoted to bigger and better positions, preferably at the federal level, where the pay was better and their level of accountability would be next to zero.
Rather than arresting people for illegal gun purchases, Dodson and his fellow agents were told to simply observe how many purchases were made and where the guns were moved to. In most cases, the people they were observing were known straw purchasers. These are men and women---generally young, with no criminal records---who would buy large amounts of guns and would then transport them across the border to give to cartels, since cartels could not purchase guns in America. They knew exactly where the guns were going, but they were told to do nothing. This is known as "gun walking", a practice that the ATF completely denies they condoned or sanctioned.
Dodson knows that's bullshit, and he told his superiors repeatedly that what they were doing was wrong. He warned his superiors that the consequences of their sanctioned gun walking would eventually result in many innocent American and Mexican lives being killed by American guns in the hands of cartel members. Dodson received nothing but cold shoulders, shit jobs, and transfers to out-of-the-way posts meant to shut him up.
After the 2011 nighttime shootout between Border Patrol agents and Mexican bandits that resulted in Terry's death, two things happened: 1) Subsequent investigations of the crime scene resulted in the recovery of the murder weapons, all of which were guns that the ATF had allowed to get in the hands of cartel members. The very thing that Dodson had been afraid would happen, happened. 2) Dodson made a decision that would change his life forever: he was going to blow the whistle on the ATF Phoenix.
The majority of Dodson's memoir is given over to the mental battle he endured as to whether to be a whistle-blower or not, and when he finally makes the decision to do so, how to do it in a way that would be the safest for him and his family. It's no small decision to be a whistle-blower. It's a decision that affects one's career, relationships, and even one's safety and well-being. His decision, he realizes, was all the more difficult given the ridiculous politicization of the scandal. As Dodson writes, "Once politics are injected into it, the search for the truth gets thrown off track. Everyone puts up their shields and defends their side's assertion of what is the given truth. Whichever side is victorious, their "truth" now prevails, while the real truth is so often lost somewhere along the way. (p.260)"
Thankfully, there are people like Dodson who are willing to stand up and ultimately do the right thing, for the truth, for the protection of the general public, and for the forgotten fallen like Brian Terry.
December 26, 2020
Excellent book written by one of the ATF Agents involved in this debacle that cost Border Guard, Brian Terry, his life. Dodson warned them of the very thing that happened.
Sad thing is, no one was arrested, or held accountable, within the ATF and Obama administration.
A big shout out to Dodson’s wife!, who was 100% supportive and courageous, of him in exposing...Fast and Furious...bringing to light those who were in charge of it.
There’s no statute of limitations on the truth.
Sad thing is, no one was arrested, or held accountable, within the ATF and Obama administration.
A big shout out to Dodson’s wife!, who was 100% supportive and courageous, of him in exposing...Fast and Furious...bringing to light those who were in charge of it.
There’s no statute of limitations on the truth.
December 13, 2024
Writing kind of annoyed me , but such an important whistleblower account of a baffling policy .
October 29, 2015
As the wife of a BP agent who still remembers vividly the day I got the call from my husband to inform me of Brian Terry's death and the grief and mourning that permeated throughout the entire Border Patrol community, this book was personal and hit close to home. My husband puts his life at risk in the very same hills and mountains where this book takes place. It could have been him and tears of anger and sadness flowed freely. First at the unnecessary loss of Brian Terry's life, which could have been prevented, and second at the ineptness, lack of leadership and judgement and just plain stupidity in all levels of government. You can't help but wonder wether the sacrifices and effort of Border Patrol agents are worth the risks after reading something like this. It's only because of people like Dodson who have the courage to tell the truth and stand for what they know to be right that I have some smidgeon of hope that there is some purpose and service left in what my husband does every day. My gratitude and respect John Dodson. You are a true wolf and warrior.
December 3, 2013
If it weren't for John Dodson, the public would never have found out the truth about ATF gunwalking and how it led to the death of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry. John's perspective on life at ATF is both entertaining and insightful, while his larger tale of deciding to blow the whistle--and living with the repercussions--is both inspiring and instructive. Like other whistleblowers, John put his career and his entire reputation on the line to do the right thing. This is a fantastic book.
July 31, 2025
This is John Dodson's story of working in Phoenix and discovering a corrupt operation of the US government facilitating and encouraging the trafficking of weapons to drug cartels in Mexico.
I lived in Tucson at the time this was happening and was completely oblivious to what was going on, as was most of the American public.
Essentially, several government agencies weren't communicating real well and they all wanted the glory and accolades for bringing down a weapon trafficking ring. They allowed thousands of guns to cross the border. They claimed it was to trace them to those higher up the chain. However, they lost track of the weapons, nothing was done to enforce or limit the trafficking and the whole operation was corrupt. It led to a border control agent being murdered by one of these weapons. There was an attempt to cover it up, but Dodson disclosed what was going on.
I admired him for his courage. He dealt with a lot of retaliation and backlash for his efforts. Of course the story was told through his eyes, so there may be more sides to this story. However, recently in the news, Trump has been complaining about all the drugs coming from Mexico. The drug trafficking can only be successful with the use of weapons to enforce it. Mexico requested assistance from the US for help in reducing weapons crossing the border. It must be connected with this story.
I lived in Tucson at the time this was happening and was completely oblivious to what was going on, as was most of the American public.
Essentially, several government agencies weren't communicating real well and they all wanted the glory and accolades for bringing down a weapon trafficking ring. They allowed thousands of guns to cross the border. They claimed it was to trace them to those higher up the chain. However, they lost track of the weapons, nothing was done to enforce or limit the trafficking and the whole operation was corrupt. It led to a border control agent being murdered by one of these weapons. There was an attempt to cover it up, but Dodson disclosed what was going on.
I admired him for his courage. He dealt with a lot of retaliation and backlash for his efforts. Of course the story was told through his eyes, so there may be more sides to this story. However, recently in the news, Trump has been complaining about all the drugs coming from Mexico. The drug trafficking can only be successful with the use of weapons to enforce it. Mexico requested assistance from the US for help in reducing weapons crossing the border. It must be connected with this story.
January 9, 2024
i usually like a easy read but this books feels like it was easy to go through becasue it lacked content. several times in the book the author says he is having difficulty comprehending certain ideas or theories where i had no issue understanding why or at least came up with my own satisfactory conclusion, half way thro the book i started to lose respect for the mans competence. also no where in the book does he mention if fast and furious was successful, i know nothing of this topic and refuse to google it myself now after finishing the book as i feel he should have informed me tho i get the idea that he simply didnt want to give the program credit becasue he himself had moral gripes with it. he also starts a relationship with a co worker and withing 3 months move in with each other, keep in mind the women is a single mother of 2 who is divorced and he himself a single father of 2 who has been divorced twice. choices like this made it difficult for me to take him seriously, then when they move he marrys her literally for financial gains and jokes about it himself that he married her for the money. intresting story, hard to respect the man himself other than bein a whistle blower. i bought the book for a dollar, i felt i got my moneys worth.
December 11, 2024
I picked this one up because I think this incident is super interesting, but I've never fully understand it and wanted some additional context. On that front, this book was helpful. I think the author presents some compelling arguments for his side of the story as far as what exactly happened, and I appreciate his honesty throughout the book.
An issue I have with this book is that other than the author's recollections, it's not really evidence-based at all. You basically just have to take his word for it without other sources or research to back him up. I think he's probably being pretty upfront and believes what he wrote here, but it is very one sided.
An issue I have with this book is that other than the author's recollections, it's not really evidence-based at all. You basically just have to take his word for it without other sources or research to back him up. I think he's probably being pretty upfront and believes what he wrote here, but it is very one sided.
November 29, 2021
It's a fast paced story that is compelling in the re-confirmation of government cynicism, but narrated by a guy who has mistaken the serendipitous notoriety precipitated by acting ethically among some in law enforcement bureaucracy who didn't with a crowning achievement. It's entertaining, but practically so, in the way of a history channel reality series finale. Practically indistinguishable from a non-fiction serial podcast.
February 22, 2017
interesting look at a dark episode in ATF history
November 2, 2022
An easy-to-read synopsis of everything that's wrong with big government by the guy who was in the center of it.
April 24, 2023
Very interesting.
May 30, 2016
Dodson is the BATF agent that blew the whistle to Congress and the Media on the Obama's misguided gun sting operation that put so-called assault weapons in the hands of drug cartels and criminals and resulted in the death of a Border Patrol agent using one one these guns. He documents the advice of rank and file agents against the program and the resulting coverup by the Obama administration afterwards. A must read for anyone concerned about the misuse and abuse of power. I read this one on Memeorial Day and thought about all the men and women who gave their lives for the USA and its Constitution.
March 21, 2015
I really enjoyed this book. I have worked for people that you had to do things that did not make sense. They would defend their orders with the same lunacy.
It just shows that our government can do anything it wants when it wants. We can slow it down sometimes, but we can not stop it. Fill out the right paperwork and you can get around anything.
You have to wonder how many people's lives have been destroyed by other people covering up their own mistakes instead of just admitting their mistakes and correcting them.
It just shows that our government can do anything it wants when it wants. We can slow it down sometimes, but we can not stop it. Fill out the right paperwork and you can get around anything.
You have to wonder how many people's lives have been destroyed by other people covering up their own mistakes instead of just admitting their mistakes and correcting them.
June 23, 2014
I really enjoy the book. it was the best book I read because it talks about a man that's willing to justice for Brian terry and for those that have suffered from gun trafficking. It also talks about how a man came to right terms and revealed secrets of the ATF. It also, tell me that even the best goverments has loose ends but theirs a way to stop it. As long as people like John comes forward.
January 9, 2014
Excelent!
February 9, 2017
Great book
John Dodson is a true hero in my opinion. He stood up for what was right. From the bottom of my heart I thank you very much and wish you all the best.
John Dodson is a true hero in my opinion. He stood up for what was right. From the bottom of my heart I thank you very much and wish you all the best.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews